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Brian Cashman said today that he is interested in re-signing both Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia. From ESPN New York: “I have an interest in both Freddy and Bartolo. Those guys all did a good job for us, a really good job.” Makes sense. Particularly Garcia who it is not quite as unreasonable to assume…

Joel Hanrahan has emerged as one of the better relief pitchers in baseball since coming over from the Nationals in the Njyer Morgan trade in June of 2009. The 30-year-old right-hander posted a 1.83 ERA this season and finished sixth in the National League with 40 saves. Sure, save totals don’t tell us much about…

I’ve been trying to process yesterday’s announcement — which we knew was coming for a long time — that a playoff team will be added in each league, possibly as soon as next season. I’ve been against the idea for some time and, from a purely baseball perspective, I still don’t like it. But I…

The Cubs are going to formally introduce Dale Sveum at the top of the hour. CSNChicago.com will offer a live stream of the press conference here. The stream will include a live chat hosted by Tony Andracki, who handles the CubsTalk beat at CSNChicago.com. Tony will have post-presser coverage as well. To anyone who may be…

I was all excited when I saw the news nugget about Jose Molina nearing a deal to catch for the Rays embedded in Matthew’s post about the free agent catching market last night. Because it meant that a Molina was going to catch for a team that no Molina had ever caught for before. So…

It sure seemed like a change in plans when it was revealed that the Red Sox were talking to Bobby Valentine yesterday. But as Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald reports, this is not a new development: Bobby Valentine has been a candidate for the Red Sox manager job from the early stages of the team’s…

If you Googled the phrase “buy a championship,” I suspect that the words “New York Yankees” would appear in approximately 92% of the results that came back. For non-Yankees fans it’s simply part of the brand now. The assumption, held for years, that money is no object in the Bronx. Except money is an object.…

Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips told reporters back in late-September that he would not be offering a “homeboy hookup” to Cincinnati once it came time to discuss terms for a new contract. And he certainly seems to be sticking to that. Reds GM Walt Jocketty told Mark Sheldon of MLB.com on Thursday that the two…

Brandon Wood is like a left-handed reliever: despite years of poor results, he just keeps getting chances. From Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com comes word that the Rockies have signed the 26-year-old infielder to a minor league contract. He’ll be paid $100,000 over the major league minimum if he manages to land a spot on the…

Great news, Major League Baseball fans. According to FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal, MLB’s players and owners have reached agreement on a new labor deal that will be officially implemented on Monday and will last for the next five seasons. Full details of the agreement have not yet been released, but we’re expecting two major changes:…

Thursday saw the fifth free agent catcher come off the board with the Tigers’ signing Gerald Laird and perhaps a sixth, with Jose Molina and the Rays reportedly nearing an agreement. Here’s the list of those off the market: Rod Barajas: Pirates – one year, $4 million Henry Blanco: D’Backs – one year, $1.2 million Matt…

I am a much older and wiser man than I used to be and thus I no longer make a big fuss out of the actual vote tabulations when it comes to awards voting and that sort of thing.* But some things are confusing, such as how Ian Kennedy got a first place vote for…

Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com says that C.J. Wilson will visit the Angels on Monday. And he’ll no doubt meet with many other teams. But I gotta say, Wilson on the Angels would be intriguing. Because if he does — and if he does it at something approaching the $120 million figure it’s reported he wants…

Remember last year when Bobby Valentine was rumored to be in the running for every single managerial job there was? Yeah, that was fun. Well buckle up, because here we go again. Ken Rosenthal reports — confirmed by Gordon Edes — that Red Sox ownership has reached out to Bobby V. and that the interest is mutual.…

The Dodgers have a Cy Young Award winner in their rotation, but they’re looking to round it out with some more moderate talent. Specifically, as Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times reports, they are wanting to sign either (a) Hiroki Kuroda; Aaron Harang; Chris Capuano; or Jeff Francis. None of them — with the…

Well, it’s officially official. According to ESPN’s Gordon Edes, the Cubs have announced that Dale Sveum will become the team’s next manager. He’s to be introduced at a press conference scheduled for 9 a.m. Friday in Chicago. Sveum was offered the job on Wednesday evening after a second in-person interview, then issued his official acceptance on Thursday…

Of course you remember the Boston Globe report from last month in which the beer and fried chicken thing — not to mention Terry Francona’s divorce and pain medication issues — came to light. Since it came out people have been saying that it was a “front office leak,” and have been blaming ownership for…

The Baseball Writers’ Association of America announced Thursday that Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw has been voted the National League Cy Young Award winner for 2011. Kershaw, 23, registered a sparkling 2.28 ERA in 33 starts this year, striking out 248 batters and walking only 54 across 233 1/3 innings. He snagged 27 of 32 possible first-place votes…

Remember that Nov. 1 deadline for the Theo Epstein compensation to be worked out? It’s going to take a whole lot longer. The Red Sox and Cubs have decided to halt their talks until after the Rule 5 draft takes place on Dec. 8. The Boston Globe reported today that the Red Sox are still…